QBO (pronounced “ku-bo”) is the Philippines’ first public-private partnership platform for Filipino startups created back in 2016 through the collaboration of the IdeaSpace Foundation, J.P. Morgan, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The IdeaSpace Foundation is a non-profit organization running founder-focused programs for early-stage tech startup founders solving emerging market issues.
It believes that technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are critical to the Philippines’ long-term growth and development and that startup founders play a major role in shaping the future of industry, community, and society.
Since its inception in 2012, IdeaSpace has been helping technology entrepreneurs develop and scale tech or tech-enabled innovations and transform these into stable, scalable, and sustainable businesses.
To date, IdeaSpace has supported 107 startups, mentored 300-plus entrepreneurs, deployed P180 million in funding for startup and ecosystem support activities in the Philippines, realized P338 million in gross revenue (as of 2019) for active startups, with 487 people employed by IdeaSpace alumni and their startups, 43.53 per cent of whom are women.
The IdeaSpace Board has Manuel V. Pangilinan as chairman, with Chris Young, Doy Vea, Ricky Vargas, and Butch Meily as directors. Butch also takes on the yeoman’s task as president of the foundation.
Now QBO is an “innovation hub,” or a venue to facilitate connections among relevant stakeholders in the Filipino startup ecosystem.
QBO has three objectives: (1) provide startups with access to capital, resources, information, and expertise; (2) develop the entrepreneurial talent pool; and (3) create successful startups through customized programs that accelerate growth.
Spurred on by the vision of Filipino startups changing the world, QBO aims to develop the Philippines as a center for innovation and unleash the potential of an entrepreneurship-driven economy as a means to nation building, sustainable development, and inclusive growth.
In the last quarter of 2021, the startup incubator hosted the Philippine round of the 2021 She Loves Tech Global Competition. The global startup competition is the world’s largest startup competition for women and technology, with 50 locations worldwide spanning across six continents. It is a fully integrated program aimed at creating, championing, and scaling technologies by and for women.
In June of this year, QBO hosted a Qlitan Networking Night together with the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines. Around 50 Filipino founders of startup companies and investors participated in it. The event aimed to connect Filipino startups and key players of the innovation community and to come up with a collaboration between Filipino and Israeli startups. The night also featured a net café session wherein Philippine startup founders engaged with Israeli businessmen and officials to exchange views and best practices in the industry, as well as find ways to work together.
Just recently, the US Embassy in the Philippines and QBO concluded a short-course program designed to guide aspiring Filipino entrepreneurs in developing their ideas into tech startups that contribute to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Philippines.
The program, aptly called “BOOTQAMP: From Idea to Impact, a Sustainable Development Goals Innovation Challenge,” was a 14-week program that trained 10 participating teams in concepts related to techno-entrepreneurship, including customer identification, problem-centric ideation, social impact measurement, and the lean startup method. Participants also received one-on-one mentorship from industry specialists and attended virtual workshops facilitated by leading tech experts in the Philippines.
Since 2018, the US Embassy and QBO Philippines have conducted activities aimed at accelerating the local startup ecosystem through mentorship and networking. To date, more than 30 Filipino startups have benefitted from these techno-entrepreneurship programs and business incubation training.
The DTI and QBO also have what is called the Global Aqeleration Program (GAP) that aims to support Filipino tech startups looking towards ASEAN regional expansion.
My hats off to the women and men behind this private-public partnership effort. Indeed, in this VUCA world that we live in, innovation is the only way for us to be able to adapt and to survive.
Our heartfelt thanks, too, to former DTI Secretary Mon Lopez and to the current DTI Secretary Fred Pascual for this endeavor.
Qmmunity. Qllaboration. Inqbation.
That is what QBO is all about. Nothing quixotic, mind you.